By: Jerromie S. Walters
The House of Representatives has fined the Acting Justice Minister and Acting Solicitor General of Liberia, Nyanantii Tuah, four thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-nine (L$4,999) cents and mandated the LRA to write an apology letter to the Plenary and be published in a newspaper after admitting that the LRA takes the responsibility to collect the fund and not the Justice Ministry.
The acting justice minister’s fine for contempt charges is to be paid to government revenue on Friday, March 3, 2023, with a receipt to be presented to the chief clerk’s office on Monday, March 6, 2023.
The decision to have the Acting Justice Minister held in contempt and fined was reached on Thursday, March 2, during the House’s 14th Day Sitting of the 6th Session of the House of Representatives of the 54th Legislature. Said decision was based on the refusal of Minister Tuah to appear last Tuesday, February 28, before the House’s plenary when he was written to appear by the Chief Clerk.
Plenary cited the Minister to address issues relating to the collection of the road fund from the petroleum importers and how payment agreements were entered into. The acting minister appeared to justify why he should not be held in contempt. He was asked to come along with his lawyer, but dropped the subject.
Minister Tuah’s reasons for not appearing on Tuesday were unjustifiable, and he was therefore charged with contempt. He told the honorable body that he could not appear because he was invited to the Liberian Senate on the same day but failed to communicate with the House on said engagement with the Senate.
Petroleum importers were invited to appear before the plenary along with the National Road Fund (NRF), the LPRC, and the Justice Minister. Petroleum importers who are indebted to the government appeared in full plenary to give their payment plan.
At the same time, Plenary concluded to allow the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) to work with the importers in determining the payment plan. LRA was asked to write an apology letter to the plenary and have it published in a newspaper after admitting that it was LRA that took responsibility for collecting the fund and not the Justice Ministry. The LRA had earlier told the plenary that the Justice Ministry was responsible for the collection of the road fund.
On February 29, 2023, the House of Representatives summoned Justice Minister Frank Musa Dean to appear before its plenary to state the reason(s) why he should not be held in contempt for his failure to respond to a call by the honorable House to address actual compliance with the National Road Fund Act of 2017 and to include an explanation for the deplorable state of roads in Liberia.
Justice Minister Frank Musa was scheduled to appear before the august body on Thursday, March 2, 2023, at about 2:00 p.m., along with his legal team.
Minister Dean, the Executive Director of the National Road Fund, and Petroleum Importers of Liberia were also advised to appear before plenary on Thursday, along with the Justice Minister, for a continuation focused on actual compliance with the National Road Fund Act of 2017 and to include an explanation for the deplorable state of roads in Liberia.
The Minister of Justice, the Managing Director of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC), the President of the Petroleum Importers Association of Liberia (PIAL), and all petroleum importers of Liberia were cited to appear before the plenary of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, February 29, 2023, but the Justice Minister failed to attend something that caught the Lawmakers’ attention, especially when the National Road Fund Boss and petroleum importers of Liberia were present.
